I have sliced my fair share of veneer, but so far, I have only used it to decorate flat panels in frame and panel construction. This was my first attempt at doing decorative veneering on a tabletop. While I do not think Frank Pollaro has anything to worry about, I was quite pleased with the results.
The table took about 15 hours to complete. I have to give kudos to my Delta Drum Sander. This type of work would not be possible without the precise veneer thickness and the precision sanding that the Delta provided.

The sunburst pattern is comprised of ribbon striped mahogany, quilted bird's eye maple, and crotch walnut. I glued the veneer to a plywood substrate and pressed it in a vacuum veneer press. I intentionally made the narrow mahogany wedge in the center smaller to give the sunburst a more dramatic effect.
The edge banding around the top is walnut.
The skirt and legs are solid walnut with walnut and bird's eye maple veneers. I used loose tenons to join the legs to the skirt.

The table is finished with three coats of Enduro waterborne lacquer, sprayed on with an HVLP conversion gun. The lacquer is an overprint blend, manufactured and tinted with an amber dye to give it a warmer appearance. This product is amazing. It gives both depth and clarity that is indistinguishable from nitrocellulose and you can spray it in your basement without blowing
yourself up along with the house!